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Thursday, February 24, 2011

"El Condor 2" taken down in Ciudad Juarez

A gunman who was killed in a confrontation with Federal Police officers in Ciudad Juarez last Tuesday turned out to be a former state investigative police (AEI) commander linked to at least 96 narco-executions.

Luis Humberto Peralta Hernandez “el Condor 2” , age 44, joined the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s office as an investigator in 2000 and resigned in March 2009, when he held a position of “comandante”with the AEI.

El Conder 2, for whom the federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) had offered a 5 million peso reward, was alleged to have held a high position in the “Carrillo Fuentes” criminal organization (also known as the Juarez cartel) and its enforcement arm, “La Linea”.

The day of the shooting, the state prosecutor’s office announced that the dead gunman's name was Samuel Hernández Mendoza, however, relatives of the deceased the body as that of the former commander.

Three companions of Peralta Hernandez were unhurt in the confronation and were taken into custody. Among these three suspected members of La Linea was another former state investigative police official, Antonio Bolivar Ramos.

All four men were travelling in a VW Passant without license plates when they were stopped by federal police. Members of organized criminal gangs in Mexico commonly travel in vehicles with license plates removed, especially during the comission of homicides or kidnappings.

In September of 2008 Peralta Hernandez was arrested by the federal anti-organized crime task force (SIEDO) with five other AEI police officers during an investigation of a series of killings in the state of Chihuahua.

In February 2008 a safe house was raided by the Mexican army in Ciudad Juarez where drugs, armored vehicles, a pistol and three assault rifles, and AEI documents were seized.

A forensic investigation found that the four weapons had been involved in at least 96 narco-executions committed between January 30, 2002 and February 7, 2008. Further research into official records found that one of the assault rifles had been issued to Peralta Hernandez.

However, in spite of the evidence gathered, SIEDO investigators released el Condor 2 and his companions days after their arrest, claiming they were unable to link the men to any executions or organized criminal activity.

During the investigation the head of forensic services in Ciudad Juarez, Pedro Aragones Sandoval, was murdered by a group of gunmen, ironically at the same location that Peralta Hernendez was killed by federal police. It was Pedro Aragones’ research that linked the seized weapons to the 96 homicides.

Peralta Hernandez was later linked to the murder of the forensic services director.

Deputy prosecutor Maria del Pilar Perez de la Fuente, whose reasearch into official records linked the asault rifle to Peralta Hernandez, was forced to resign from here post. She died of natural causes a year and a half later.

9 comments:

What's the point of even arresting these guys? Many admit to murder and other horrible crimes and still get let go. The judicial system is a joke.

In this case, the owner of a weapon is linked to 96 homicides and manages to walk free due to lack of evidence? In essence, the government is sanctioning kidnapping, torture, murder, extortion etc. Unfreakinbelievable!

This is exactly whats wong with mexico...if anything is an "outrage" to u.s citizens it's having to read stories like this about how these killers are set free time and time again...they linked his rifle 96 times to murders and they still let him go with "no evidence"? Mexican people deserve better than that! The only bright spot in this story is mr. buzzard will kill no more. Are the flames of hell hot mr. buzzard? Cause thats where your carcase flew too, how does the torment your now in feel?just think, your there for all eternity with no way of escape, thousands have felt the pain you have inflicted..now it's your turn to feel the pain...and to the soldiers THAT DID YOUR JOB, I salute you and wish you well...

Mexican law provides that narco matters are the responsibility of the federal govt. In a country where every state and every county (municipio) and every town has it's own police for crime and separate police for traffic. So most of the cops can rightly claim that drug-related crimes are not their responsibility. Therefore, built-in confusion and inefficiency. As Calderon found out, the resistance to having one unified police agency is very strong. These crooks/cops have been making a good living this way since the revolution. Look at what the gov of NL said recently about how the PRI used to "control" the narcos. I think it's on BDN.

When you become a policeman they give you a license to steal, a monthly quota and a distribution scheme i.e. commandante 10%, sub-commandante 10%, desk sgt. 10%, immediate supervisor 25%, policeman 45% - varies depending on the particular force. So the first order of police business is business. Then comes police work. Since I was a kid in D.F. the parents taught the kids if you have a problem, i.e. getting robbed/assaulted, find a couple (male/female) to ask for help. Under no circumstances do you go to a policeman.